


The One Like a Hallmark

by Mothman_Is_My_Lord



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Before season 1, Case Fic, Fluff, Human Castiel (Supernatural), M/M, Pre-Series Dean Winchester, Reindeer, Stanford Student Sam Winchester
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-16 09:27:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17547044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mothman_Is_My_Lord/pseuds/Mothman_Is_My_Lord
Summary: Dean was just staring to go on hunts by himself. Sam had just ran away to Stanford. While working on what he hoped to be a simple case, the last thing he expected was to come across a very attractive man wrangling reindeer.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story on Archive so I hope you enjoy.

Dean blinks three times. His brain wasn’t really sure it was comprehending the whole scene before him. Part of him thought it was a hallucination of some sort due to the very powerful witch he was supposed to be hunting; yet, the other side pointed out that this isn’t the strangest thing he’s ever seen.

An apple was chucked at baby’s windshield from somewhere above. Dean was ninety-eight percent sure apples weren’t in the forecast. Just a crap ton of snow.

Yeah, Dean thought as he watched someone hold out an apple to a deer, only for the wild creature to prance away. This is bizarre.

After five minutes of taking in the sight before him, Dean finally took pity on the poor soul and got out of his car. Dean didn’t even know what he was doing here; driving down a back road into a dense forest landscape at six o’clock in the afternoon. The air was close to below freezing, white powder from the heavy snow this morning that kept Dean from investigating earlier (he was mainly frustrated that he couldn’t get to a diner to start off his morning and ended up suffering through three cups of very crappy coffee).

He knew dad would be disappointed if he didn’t check in with some new information on the case, so he thought he’d do some searching before dinner. Dean didn’t really know what he expected the turn out to be but he surely didn’t foresee nearly hitting a very frantic deer while some man in a beige trench coat chased after it. Not to mention he seemed to have some sort of back up amongst the trees.

Dean wasn’t entirely sure what he drove in on, and he wasn’t exactly sure he wanted to honestly.

For a hunter, you’d think Dean would be used to ambushes from behind. And in some ways, he was. He’d learned not to react right away until you identified that there was indeed a monster behind you. No one prepared him for the rough breaths behind him and light thumping of hooves.

Slowly- doing his best not to startle the hooved creature behind him- he turned around, coming face to face with a very similar reindeer he’d watched the one man struggle to control.

“Didn’t realize you were allowed to roam around so close to Christmas, Comet.” Dean couldn’t help but remark. He noticed the strange bridle over the reindeer’s snout. “So, Santa’s helper over there is trying to coral all of you. Well ain’t that somethin’.” Dean shrugged his shoulders and thought, “why not” and grabbed the bridle.

Though they seemed to be putting up a pretty good fight towards the one guy, the wild caribou followed him easily.

“Hey, Santa!” Electric blue eyes shot over to meet his. Dean was taken back by the intensity of the gaze before putting a grin back on his face. “Need help roundin’ up your reindeer?” The man tilted his head, and damn it shouldn’t have been as cute as Dean’s mind thought it was. It was hard to tell much about the man’s appearance, due to the wool scarf protecting his nose but also covering his mouth in the process. He wore a blue and white striped hat over his ear. The only odd thing about his attire was the business suite underneath the trench coat.

The trench coated stranger jogged over to him, unwrapping his scarf in the process as he took in the sight of Dean and his feral reindeer. “You got one. How?”

Dean refused to recognise how attractive the man was at the moment. “Sort of just came up to me on his own. I assume they’re yours?” The man nodded. “How many more you got?”

“Seven more.” He gave Dean a overwhelmed smile. The man looked at something high over Dean’s shoulder and quickly said something as his eyes widened in realization.

Now of course, Dean was far too curious as to what had the man so concerned. So, instead of “ducking” as the stranger had said, Dean furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and was about to turn around to see what was so important until an object knocked right into the back of his head. It wasn’t a heavy object but is definitely caught him off guard.

Turning around to see what hit him, a red apple laid innocently in the fluffy white snow.

“Gabriel!” The stranger besides him yelled towards the sky. Dean followed his eyesight until he found someone squatting in the trees; holding a basket of apples.

“I’m on a mission, Cassie! You warned him!” The small man with auburn hair shouted back.

“How is pelting the deer with apples going to help our current situation?!” The man- Cassie?- asked.

“It’ll scare them back to the pasture!” Gabriel replied, tossing an apple to the south of him. The deer besides him jumped a little but Dean kept his grip on the bridle, pulling him back down.

“I don’t see the philosophy in that!” Dean had to agree with the beautiful stranger.

“Hey,” Dean interrupted their little spute. “I can help you round up the rest if you tell me where I can put, Dasher here?”

“You don’t have to do that. I feel like I’ve caused you enough problems as it is.” His voice was rough and genuine. Dean waved him off.

“Nah, I was just heading up that way to go talk to the...Shurley’s?” Dean made a face as he guessed the name. Look, he’d gotten a little distracted by the rouge reindeer to focus on the details of the case.

Blue eyes widened in surprise before he offered his hand to Dean’s. “I’m, Castiel Shurley, actually. What brings you up here?”

“Dean Mercury.” Dean shook his hand before letting go. “I wanted to ask you a few question about the death of your uncle.” Castiel eyed him for a moment, most likely wondering what Dean could possibly want to know about his uncle but the man nodded anyways.

“It’s the least I could do for your help.” Castiel smiled. “That is, if you’re okay with helping me gather the others?” Dean chuckled at the utter hope in those azure eyes.

“I’d rather not be on Santa’s naughty list this year.” Castiel beamed at him before ushering Dean to follow him.

And that’s how Dean found himself hunting down seven freaking reindeer until the sun went down, in just above freezing weather. Not to mention, Gabriel snickering ruefully as he successfully managed to aim five more apples at Dean.


	2. Chapter 2

“Alright, in you go, Prancer.” Dean patted the side of the last reindeer as it...well...pranced into the fenced yard. Castiel closed the gate and locked it before turning to Dean with a grateful smile.

“Thank you, so much. I’m sorry you had to do that.” Castiel apologized. The hunter just laughed in response.

“Dude, it was no problem. How many people can say they helped round up eight reindeer before Christmas?” Dean grinned. “Please tell me you seized your opportunity and named them correctly.”

“You mean are they all named after the eight reindeer that pull, Santa’s sleigh?” Gabriel walked up behind them, carrying his weaponry class apples. “Psh, no. That’d be lame.” A deer trotted past them and Gabriel pointed at it. “That’s, Bambi.” 

Castiel turned to, Dean. “Yes, we named them accordingly.” He glanced around at the herd of deer. “Though, I’m not sure I remember which ones which.” Dean didn’t blame him, they all looked fairly similar. Blue eyes widened as they remembered something. “You wanted to talk to us about our uncle, correct?”

Dean’s face lined in confusion before it dawned on him.  _ He was on a case _ . 

“Right, right.” Dean rubbed his hands together, the nippy air finally starting to seep through his leather jacket. “Can we do it somewhere with a heater of some sort. It’s kinda cold out here.” Castiel took in the hunter’s poor winter attire and gave him a scolding look. 

“It’s currently twenty two degrees outside in the middle of winter, and just after a brief snowstorm you go outside in a leather jacket and jeans?” The brunette gave him a questioning eyebrow while Gabriel tisked in the background.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” Gabriel asked in an observant tone. Dean shook his head. “Then why the hell are you so interested in our uncle?” 

“Let’s get him inside before we interrogate him, Gabriel.” Castiel’s feet cracked the snow beneath him as he headed east. He turned around and motioned for Dean to follow him. Gabriel made sure the gate was secure before following the two of them.

Castiel led Dean up a hill towards a log cabin themed house. It seemed huge from the outside. The whole thing looked to be made from logs with stone to add character. The home was two stories tall, surrounded by evergreen trees. At one point, Dean felt the slide of gravel beneath him and looked up to see a nice sized garage attached to the home.

Dean stared at the garage for a moment before stopping in his tracks, almost making Gabriel run into him. “My car. I have to go back-” 

“It’s snowing pretty heavily, and barely anyone drives up our road. Your car will be fine for a few hours.” Castiel told him. Dean knew it was meant to comfort him but he didn’t think lightly when it came to Baby. His dad would kill him if anything happened to his car. That and Dean would be low key pissed at himself for leaving the poor girl out in the cold. 

But, Dean didn’t argue. Castiel was right; he was freezing. It took them nearly thirty minutes to reach the pasture- let alone the good ten minutes it took them to trek their way through the snow towards the house. Not to mention he wouldn’t be able to find his way through the darkness with all snow falling down.

“If something happens to my car, I’m murdering you both.” Dean knew it probably wasn’t smart to say something like that to two people you’ve never met but he didn’t joke when it came to the impala. He mentally cringed at the thought of Sam driving her, let alone some stranger picking her up.

Castiel unlocked the door to the house and held it open for Dean and Gabriel. The hunter held in his content sigh at the comfortable heat radiating inside. Gabriel happily shedded his winter coat and shoes that had become wet due to the warmth. 

“You can kick your shoes off and hang your jacket up over here.” Castiel said as he hung up his trench coat. Dean couldn’t help but tell how small the man looked without it. It wasn’t until he also took off the black suit jacket that Dean could see the line of muscles hidden underneath all the layers. 

_ Alright, Winchester. Back it up. _ Dean mentally scolded his brain and tried to busy himself with taking off his leather jacket and toeing off his shoes.  _ Dad left you in charge of the case and the last thing you need to do is disappoint him because you were too busy questioning your sexuality _ . Dean’s brain forced his eyes to rake over the other man.  _ Damn. This is gonna be hard _ .

“I didn’t catch your name.” Gabriel tore Dean from his inner battle against his brain. “Though, I’m pretty sure you caught mine. With, Cassie practically yelling it.” For a minute, Dean panicked. He didn’t know how but for a brief minute he forgot what surname he gave himself.

“Dean Mercury.” Dean hoped neither of them realized his hesitation. Gabriel nodded.

“So, Deano. Where are you from?” 

“Lawrence, Kansas.” Dean silently hoped he could remember enough about his birthplace to seem convincing. Probably wasn’t the brightest move he’s ever made. He wasn’t lying, of course, that was where he came from; it just didn’t help that John had made a point of avoiding that part of Kansas like the plague. Dean tried not to blame him, he really did, but it wasn’t fair how much he avoided their hometown. There were numerous times where Sammy wanted to visit their mother’s grave but John would just ignore him and continue driving impossibly further without crossing the ocean. 

“That’s not that far away. What brings you to Wyoming?” Gabriel asked. Dean was pretty sure he came to question them- not the other way around.

“I’m on vacation.” Golden-esqe eyes squinted at him.

“Then why’re you so interested in our personal matters?” Gabriel countered. Dean felt like this man was personally challenging him. The hunter squared his shoulders,  _ bring it _ .

“Well, I’m with the P.D. from down there and I haven’t taken a personal vacation in five years. I enjoy my job a little too much and when I saw the commotion around your uncle I couldn’t stop myself from investigating. I’ll admit, I have a problem.” He gave Gabriel a small smirk, only causing the shorter man to glare at him. Dean would’ve been more worried about how much Gabriel distrusted him but he couldn’t help but ignore that factor at the moment. 

Castiel looked back and forth between his brother and Dean. “Why don’t we all sit down.” He turned towards Dean. “You can make yourself comfortable. Is there anything I can get you to drink while you’re here? I have water, a variety of teas but no alcohol.” Dean wasn’t much of a tea person, but he couldn’t bring himself to argue while those ocean eyes stared at him.

“Whichever tea you prefer.” Dean offered him a small smile. Castiel smiled back before retreating into the kitchen. The other brother scoffed behind Dean.

“You know, Deano. You seem like a pretty cool guy but I highly doubt you’re a cop.” Gabriel said. Dean grinned at him.

“What makes you say that?” Dean asked. It seemed like Gabriel was about to make some flippant remark but thought better of himself. Which- at the moment Dean wasn’t aware- was highly unusual of the shorter man. Though, at the moment, Dean took it as a score and sauntered over to the living room. 

The living room was small and cozy. A fireplace attached to giant slabs of stone covered the wall across from him while the furniture was arranged similar to that in Friends: a couch accompanied by a wooden coffee table in front of it, two end tables on both ends, a chair with a nice stool sat diagonally from the right of the couch, and lastly an overstuffed chair sat to the left of the couch. Dean walked further into the room and noticed the stone lined staircase along the left wall, a wooden railing securining you while you looked out into the room from the loft. 

Castiel walked in after him, carrying a tray with three different mugs; a pleasant course of steam emitting from all of them. Dean had never took the time to smell the herbal mixtures as he passed by them in various towns but something about the smell tied everything in the house together. It felt nice.

“I hope you like it,” Castiel said. He picked up one of the three mugs and handed it to Dean carefully, letting go when he made sure the hunter had a hold on it. While Castiel moved to hand his brother a mug, Dean took a questioning sniff from the foreign liquid. The hunter raised an eyebrow as he cautiously took a sip. It was everything but bitter unlike the coffee he’d had this morning; yet, at the same time there wasn’t a specific taste. 

Dean couldn’t help but enjoy the pleasant change from his usual drinks- something he vowed never to admit to Sam.

Castiel walked over to his brother and handed him a cup filled to the brim with marshmallows; liquid probably hidden under the mound. The shorter of the two Shurley’s started to eat one marshmallow at a time while Dean found a spot to sit. 

Soon they were all sitting. It was quiet before Dean cleared his throat.

“So...about your uncle, did he have a lot of enemies?” He asked. Castiel tipped his head to the side.

“Didn’t you read the report, Deano?” Gabriel said. “He was mauled by a wild animal- insides, outsides all shredded. Unless he offended Mother Nature, I don’t see what that question has to do with anything.” 

“It’s nice to know every aspect about the person’s life to get a clear picture. What if it wasn’t a wild animal and it was a pet dog sent to attack him? No offense, but unless you were there no one knows exactly what killed your uncle.” Gabriel narrowed his eyes at the implication. Though Dean directed everything- from his tone of voice to how he phrased his words- at Gabriel, he noticed the affronted look on the other Shurley. 

Dean went to bandage any damage he did but soon Castiel’s expression turned to anguish. 

“Are you implying that there’s a possibility that my uncle, Raphael was murdered?” Dean knew that look, the hunter happened to be the master at feeling responsible for events that were out of his hands. 

“Hey, we don’t know that.” Innocent eyes shone into his. “Look, either way, you didn’t know so don’t beat yourself up for it. Police make mistakes all the time- and who knows? They could be right about the whole rabid animal thing. You never know. I just want to make sure that you guys, and everyone else in this town is safe.” Dean tried to reassure him. 

Castiel stared at him for a minute. “You’re unlike any cop I’ve ever ran across.” Gabriel glanced at his brother for a moment with a face that screamed, “cause he’s not” but his younger brother didn’t notice him.

Dean smiled, “I hope that’s a good thing, ‘cause I’m pretty sure they’re wa-ay more professional than me.” He said, drawing out the “a”. 

“Raph was a douchebag every now and then.” Gabriel admitted. “I don’t see why someone would murder him though. Compared to Metatron…” He trailed off but it was the silent implication that had Castiel furiously nodding in agreement. Dean didn’t have to meet the guy to tell he probably took the crown of “biggest douchebag”.

“And is...Metatron? Still alive?” Dean asked, and the two brothers looked at eachother.

“Honestly, we try and stay as far away from him as possible. The last time we heard from him was...what...three years ago?” Gabriel guessed.

“I believe it’s been longer.” Castiel said. 

Dean whistled. “Wow. He must be a huge dick.” He took a sip of the neglected drink while he thought of another question. “Is there anyone in specific that disliked, Raphael?” 

“I don’t believe so. He did have some fairly strong opinions but that’s because of our family’s influence. It affects some of us more than others.” Castiel explained vaguely. 

Dean bit back the urge to groan in frustration. This wasn’t going to be an easy case. So far, all the information these two gave him wasn’t completely useless but it was exactly useful. He was also hoping to avoid visiting the morgue. Though checking out dead bodies in a morgue was apart of every case, it was still Dean’s least favorite part. The bodies were gross and the doctors were always a pain to talk to. 

“I don’t want to take up anymore of your time.” Dean moved to stand up, setting his mug on the coffee table. “It was nice to meet you two.” He made a move for the front door but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. When he turned around, Castiel was standing there.

“I don’t believe it’s wise to go outside. You’ll most likely freeze before you reach your car.” Castiel thought for a moment, and added, “also, I don’t believe your car is equipped for such weather conditions.”

“We’re going through a really rough snowstorm, Deano.” Gabriel said. 

Dean looked back and forth between the two of them. “What’re you guys suggesting?” Gabriel grinned.

“We have a guest room upstairs.” Castiel said. The hunter blinked, letting the words seep in. 

“I couldn’t ask you to do that.” Dean shook his head. “Plus, it doesn’t seem that bad outside.” He glanced out the window and held back a grimace.  _ Damn it looks cold out there _ .

“Dean.” The hunter tried to keep his thoughts in check. Now was not the time to focus on how nice it sounded when Castiel said his name. “I insist.” Dean could’ve sworn he saw Sam’s puppy dog eyes in the reflection of Castiel’s blue ones. 

If only Sam could see him now: struggling to tell a very handsome man no. Dean could almost hear his brother’s snickering. 

“Fine. Just- please don’t look at me like that.” 

Dean decided that Castiel’s smile of triumph was worth it in the end. 


	3. Chapter 3

Cas (Dean has given up using his full name) showed him the guest room. It was up on the second floor, and Dean asked if he could have a minute alone. It was almost eight o’clock and John was bound to call any minute now, probably furious that Dean hadn’t checked in yet. He couldn’t stop thinking about what his father would think that he put a halt on the tour because he wanted to enjoy his time with the blue-eyed Shurley. 

John only allowed the phone to ring two times before picking up. “How’s the case going? You’re not hurt, are you?” Dean rolled his eyes. 

“I’m fine. There’s a snowstorm outside and the phone connection was slow.” Dean tried not to let his impatience show. 

“Did you get any information on the case?” John asked. 

_ Yes. There’s nearly two feet of snow on the ground, it’s been snowing heavily for twelve hours straight, and I was barely able to get baby out as far as I did. I was totally able to dig up new information. _ Dean thought sarcastically. “I’ll have new information by tomorrow. Baby doesn’t really like driving through the snow.” 

John hummed: a mixture of understanding and disappointment all laced together. It was the small things like this that Sam got so pissed at and Dean couldn’t blame him. It was pretty aggravating but Dean knew John couldn’t help it. Hunting was like waiting for the next episode of your favorite TV show to come out. You wait all day for it to start only to realize it’s going on hiatus for a few weeks. 

That, and Dean knew his father hated the thought of innocent people being in danger. 

“Alright. Stay safe out there, Dean. Remember to check in with me tomorrow.” John said, bringing the call to a close.

“Yes, sir.” Only seconds after he spoke, the connection cut out. Dean pulled the phone away from his ear and gave the device an offended look. It wasn’t until  _ connection lost _ flashed across the screen that Dean realized it wasn’t his father that had hung up on him. He could barely hear the faint murmur of a nearby power box going out, followed by everything simultaneously turning off.

“Goddammit!” A voice echoed from somewhere downstairs. Frowning, the hunter whipped out his flashlight and quickly opened the door, jogging down the stairs. Soon he found himself in the kitchen, accidentally shining the flashlight in Cas’s face. 

Dean’s hunter instincts kicked in as he flashed the light around. It was similar to how they portray the protagonist’s thoughts during a fight scene. He could practically see the glowing eyes of a shapeshifter before him or the dozens of sharp teeth that belonged to a vampire. Instead, Dean saw a very angry Gabriel glaring at the small TV placed on the counter.

“Are power outages normal up here?” Dean asked, turning to direct his question to the other brother.

“Sadly, yes. I hope that doesn’t concern you too much.” Cas gave the hunter an apologetic look.

“I’ve dealt with worse.” Dean reassured. Cas squinted at him as if he didn’t actually believe the hunter. 

“How am I supposed to watch Casa Erotica now?!” Gabriel groaned sadly before giving Dean a weird look. “Do you always carry that big of a flashlight around with you?” 

Dean was caught off guard by the question. “I guess?” He wasn’t even going to acknowledge the first comment Gabriel made.

Cas started to rummage through the cabinets. “I don’t believe we have much food that doesn’t involve a stove to cook, and Gabriel didn’t believe we needed a gas stove.” He glared at the shorter man.

“It’s not like we normally get company up here! How was I supposed to know that the one day we have someone over the power would go out?” Gabriel pointed out. 

“Wouldn’t you still get a gas stove just in case the outage lasted more than a night?” Dean asked. Cas gave Dean a distant but grim look.

“It has.” The frozen nights of eating nothing but sugar and pure carbs would forever haunt Castiel. Even to Dean (though, Sam would argue otherwise) the thought of eating junk food for more than two days seemed disgusting to him. 

“Awe, come on Cassie. It wasn’t that bad.” Dean couldn’t tell if Gabriel was an idiot or unique. Probably both, it he were being nice.

“Maybe not to you. I actually prefer full meals over empty carbs.” Cas argued back. Dean held back his smile; they both, in a way, reminded him of himself and Sam. They both had arguments over the smallest things, and yet they wouldn’t change the other person for the world.

“I’m easy. I’ll eat pretty much anything as long as it doesn’t involve rabbit food as the main dish.” Dean commented. “Though, I guess I’m not really a cake guy either. Their just fake, poor excuses for pie.” 

“I agree and disagree with you there, Deano.” Gabriel said. “Whereas I agree with your dislike for what would be labeled as “healthy foods”, I have to disagree with your statement on cake.” Dean raised an eyebrow in question. “You see, cake can be magical if you let it be. Have you ever ate icing out of a can?”

“No.” 

“Then you’re missing out, my dear stranger. Icing is what makes cake so magical that it’s a shame that pie has kept you from such an experience.” Gabriel explained. Dean was confused if this argument was over cake as a whole or just icing. 

“How does that uphold your argument of cake being as good as pie?” Cas asked, adding his own input into the strange debate. “At this point you’ve, at the most, convinced Dean he should appreciate icing and not the cake itself.” 

Gabriel was silent for a minute, rethinking over what he said. “Maybe I’ve been underestimating cake.” The shortest Shurley seemed truly blown away by his own statement.

Cas scooted over and leaned close to Dean so only the hunter could hear him. “I think you broke my brother.” Gabriel sunk into one of the chairs surrounding a small table in the kitchen. 

“Should I feel bad?” Dean asked, watching as Gabriel stared into nothing. Their house was literally pitch black and Dean was the only one with a light source at the moment. There was literally nothing he could be staring at besides the darkness.

“I’d understand if you felt the slightest bit of pride for a solid ten minutes before being concerned if he doesn’t move anytime soon.” Cas responded. They watched Gabriel for any signs of movement before giving up. “I believe there’s some candles stored downstairs if you wouldn’t mind leading the way?”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” Dean paused for a moment. “Are you sure he’ll be fine up here alone?” Cas shrugged his shoulders.

“I doubt he’ll notice we’re gone.” With that, Dean handed Cas his flashlight and followed the owner of the house downstairs. 


	4. Chapter 4

Dean didn’t know what he expected honestly. 

It’s very rare that you ever enter a house that doesn’t have a creepy, dark, secluded basement or attic. Maybe it’s because of his crush (wow, way to be teenager, Dean) on Cas, that altered his expectations. 

“Please tell me you labeled the box.” Dean said, staring at the mountain of boxes in the corner. The mound was taller than he was, which was pretty terrifying. That wasn’t even counting the amount of boxes littered over every space of floor. 

“God, I hope so.” That wasn’t the reassurance the hunter was looking for. “I’m terribly sorry. Last time I had, Gabriel put the candles away. We’ll be lucky if their even in a box alone.” Cas informed.

“Not to imply that you do all the work around here but maybe next time you should do the boxing.” Dean suggested. Though he could barely see Cas in the darkness, he could tell the man was nodding enthusiastically. Apparently the thought of searching this entire room for a box of candles was just as unpleasant to him as it was to Dean. 

Cas, who manned the only flashlight, shined the light at the big mound. Dean carefully maneuvered himself around the dozens of boxes- trying not to hurt anything valuable- until he stood next to Cas. “Please tell me we aren’t diving right into a mile before we stretch.” 

“Good thinking.” Cas seemed thankful that Dean said something. Together, they both opened dust boxes. Dean was in no place to judge- for he had no home to store valuables- he didn’t understand why they’d keep half this stuff. It all seemed like a bunch of useless junk you’d find at a flea market to him; old clothes, furniture, vases. The only thing he saw that was worth keeping was the photo albums. 

Dean flipped open what felt like the twentieth box. A bunch of papers rested within it. Curiously, Dean picked them up while Cas was busy digging through a box of old clothes. Flipping through the worn pages, Dean noticed words formatted like a legal document. He glanced up to make sure Cas was still focused before pulling it out so it was in the front. 

Glancing over, he recognized a few things he had yet to look into. Originally, later on he’d head to the local library and browse through their history documents of the town but now it seemed that trip may be cut short- much to his liking.

“Hey, Cas?” There was a hum in response. “You didn’t happen to inherit this place from you Uncle, did you?” The rustling of clothes being shifted stopped. Yellow light flashed over in Dean’s direction, and despite being blinded, Dean still looked up with one of his eyebrows raised.

Cas carefully walked over to Dean. By his body language, Dean could tell he wasn’t very happy about a stranger going through his paperwork but at the same time, he must’ve been just as curious as Dean.

“Yes. Why?” Cas sat down on his knees next to Dean. The undercover hunter took the flashlight out of Cas’s hands and handed him the papers. While Cas read over the papers, Dean made sure he had enough light.

“I don’t understand.” Cas said after a while. “I thought, Raphael said he bought the house.”

“You didn’t know he bought the land with the intention of building his own house?” Dean asked. He didn’t get why someone would lie about something so simple. It wasn’t like it was that big of a deal but it could be a key in figuring out who killed the poor guy.

“No. A few years ago he boasted about finding a beautiful home surrounded by acres of land, in a secluded place. He never mentioned about taking a team of people to clear a few trees to build it himself.” Cas informed. “A great portion of my family are realtors but they were always against cutting down forestland in favor of building.”

Dean had a thought in his head but he didn’t dare voice it. Raphael getting mauled in the woods- acres that he built on (which didn’t make sense due to the previous thought of the culprit being a witch). To him, it was clear motivation for a monster to get pissed off and murder the guy. There was no such luck in getting Cas to see that.

“Sorry for digging through your stuff.” Dean apologize, taking the papers from Cas’s hand and setting them neatly back in the box. “As a cop, I’m kinda used to digging into things. I saw promisingly important papers and couldn’t help myself.” He handed the flashlight back to the owner of the basement. 

Cas took the offered flashlight hesitantly. “You are a stranger in my house digging through important belongings. You can see why I’m slightly off put by that, correct?”

“Of course.” Dean replied. “It was wrong of me. I understand if you want me to stop looking for candles in case I stumble across something else.” He pointedly glanced around the room. “Though, I feel like that’s more punishment on you than it is me.”

When Cas didn’t respond, Dean looked at him. The hunter was caught off guard by the frustrated eyes glaring at him. Dean bit his lip, angered by how hot he thought Cas was at this moment. Right now, this man had the power to throw Dean out into the freezing night to die from hypothermia. The last thing he needed to do was a, give the man a reason to do so and b, be blinded by how good looking he is is. Coming across as a man that sleeps with a lot of people probably won’t bide well with the guy. Though it wouldn’t be a lie.

Does it count if Dean doesn’t sleep with a lot of guys? That he never felt the need to act on his bisexuality until he met Cas? 

Dean doubts Cas would listen to that reasoning when they’ve only known each other for a few hours.

“I’ll shut up now.” Dean said to himself. 

“That would be wise.” Cas agreed. “We’ll look through a few more boxes but if we don’t stumble upon them, it’d probably be for the best if we just stop the search. Unless you’re scared of the dark, I believe we’ll survive without a few candles.” 

“Trust me, I haven’t been scared of the dark sense I was four. I’ll live.” Dean reassured. He didn’t say how his father’s way of protecting him from the dark was handing him a ‘44 and warning him not to shoot his brother. That reminded Dean that he somehow had to hide the pistol in the waistband of his jeans. If either Cas or Gabriel knew he was armed, they’d probably alert the actual police. 

Lying about being a cop was only going to give him a little leeway. Leeway that he’s pretty sure he’s already taken advantage of.

*

Ten boxes later, their mission was a success. Just as Cas said, the candles were not in the box labeled so, and instead they were in a box marked “useless crap”.

Apparently Gabriel had the same opinion about some of this junk as Dean did.

Speaking of Gabriel, the guy had thankfully risen from his motionless state and started searching the cabinets for possible dinner options.

“What’s for dinner shorty?” Dean asked, carrying the box of candles as Cas led him up the steep staircase. Cas beckoned him to set it on the counter.

“I’ll have you know, you’re just abnormally tall.” Gabriel countered, setting a bag of Doritos on the small table. So far, he managed to create a small pile of bagged carbs on the round table.

“You haven’t seen nothin’ until you’ve seen my younger brother.” Dean raised his hand above his head, roughly at what Sam’s height was. “Actual giant.”

“I don’t know whether to be intimidated or mock you for being the older brother to a moose.” Gabriel commented. He visibly weighed his options. “Heh, you’re the short one in the family.” Dean rolled his eyes.

“Coming from the short one in his own family.” Cas said, eyeing Gabriel pointedly.

“I’m not talking about our family, Cassie. Let me have this moment.” Cas looked at Dean with a sorry look that said,  _ there’s nothing I can do _ . Part of the hunter was happy that Cas didn’t seem that mad about what happened down in the basement. Well, mad wasn’t really the right word but still. The other half of Dean was pissed that he cared what the guy thought of him.

_ I’m screwed _ , was Dean’s last thought to himself before picking up a bag of potato chips.


End file.
